Chapter 5

The two dragons raced through the course. When they reached the downhill portion Windwalker thrust her wings back and shot into the lead. However, Blazo was right on her tail. When they got to the tight canyon, Windwalker used her sonar to navigate in the dying light. Blazo stayed in her opponent's blind spot, waiting for her chance to take the lead. She got her chance when they reached they reached the tight turn. Windwalker had to slow down to make the turn, and Blazo sped up. She soon saw the finish line in her sights.

While the race was taking place; everyone waited to see the outcome. Cutter, Aggro, and Burple had reformed their cheering squad, as did Streak and Dart. Both sides cheered on their respective racer. Winger looked over at Edelweiss who was sitting cross legged on a rock near Eclipse.

"Are you planning on going in to hiding like everyone else is?" Winger asked.

"Yes," said Edelweiss. "I go where the dragons go. And once there are no more dragons up here, I'll leave the human world all together."

"For good?" Winger asked.

"Well, maybe not for good," said Edelweiss. "I'll return to the human world when the dragons do, might not be for a long time though." Just then they heard Windwalker and Blazo getting closer. They looked in the direction of the final bend in the course. First came Blazo, then Windwalker came seconds later. The two cheering squads ramped up. Blazo was just a few feet from crossing the finish line, when Windwalker activated her titan wing, and her whole body lit up with blue light. She gave her wings a more powerful thrust backward and shot forward like a bolt of lightening. She sped passed Blazo, and crossed the finish line centimeters before Blazo did. Everyone cheered as the two racers circled back around and landed again. Windwalker turned to Blazo.

"Good race," she said humbly.

"Thanks," said Blazo. She looked a touch disappointed. Tenor gave her a friendly nudge.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," he said. "I can't beat her either, no one can." He smirked playfully at Windwalker, who rolled her eyes.

"You don't even like racing," she said. All three Zoomerangs stared at him. Tenor sat on his haunches.

"Why don't you like racing?" Streak asked.

"It's just not thrilling for me," said Tenor. "I've won, I've lost, and I've tied a few times. It got old after a while." Just then thunder boomed overhead. Everyone looked up to see lightening flash across the sky.

"We should get back to the ship," said Aurora. She turned to the Zoomerangs. "You should come with us. The storm will flood this canyon."

"How can you tell?" Dart asked.

"I can sense it," said Aurora. "I also know that canyons like this are prone to flash flooding in really bad storms." More thunder boomed, and more lightening flashed. The riders all got on their dragons, and they all flew back to the Dracorex just as rain started fall.

Once on board; everyone went bellow to get out of the rain. Both of the ship's anchors were dropped, to keep it in place no matter how many waves knocked into it. Down below; the dragons ate the last of the fish and lobsters from earlier, and Serenity made oyster stew with the last of the oysters. After everyone had eaten, they went to bed. The storm raged on outside. Aurora secretly used her magic to keep the worst of the storm off the ship. However the island, was ravaged by the wind, waves, and the lightening.

The next morning the storm had subsided, but rain still fell. The riders and dragons flew over the island to survey the damaged. The racing course had indeed flooded. The river had overflowed and water had been blown in from the sea. The Zoomerangs saw that their cave was now underwater.

"What do we do now?" Streak asked his friends.

"I guess we'll have to find somewhere else to live," said Blazo.

"There's a large place underground that's completely safe from storms and dragon hunters," said Re. "Many dragons are heading there. Great opportunity for a fresh start." The Zoomerangs looked a each other.

"How do we find it?" Dart asked. Aurora scanned the horizon for a moment. Then she pointed her wing towards the west.

"Fly in that direction, and keep going until you come to a great water fall in the middle of the ocean," she said. "That'll be the entrance." The Zoomerangs looked at each other again, then down at their ruined cave.

"Well, we can't go back to our old cave," said Blazo. "We might as well check it out."

"You can find a new race course there," said Tenor.

"And more Zoomerangs," Aurora added.

"More Zoomerangs," the three young dragon said in unison, now more interested.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" said Streak.

"Let's go!" Dart exclaimed.

"Thanks for the advice," said Blazo. "I hope we see you there someday." With that the three Zoomerangs turned around sped off towards the west. They were out of sight in minuets. The Rescue Riders and Draconians headed back to the Dracorex, and headed back out to sea.

When the sun came out again; all the dragons went fishing Serenity made everyone else more porridge and hard boiled eggs for lunch.

"So dragons are all leaving to live underground?" Dak asked.

"I have been seeing fewer and fewer dragons the past few years," said Layla. "It's kind of sad."

"It's not sad," said Chris. "This way dragons won't ever be wiped out by dragon hunters. Humans are becoming smarter, more innovative, and creating better weapons than can easily kill lots of dragons."

"By going to live in the realms underground they can hunt, raise their young, and evolve without having to worry about bad humans hurting them," said Edelweiss.

When they finished their lunch; the dragons all returned with leftover fish. Chris went up to the ship's helm.

"Where should we go next?" Serenity asked.

"I'm interested to see this cave of magic crystals I've heard about," said Aurora. "Perhaps I can experiment with them."

"They're not magic," Layla scoffed. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for what they do."

"And what would your explanation be then?" Aurora asked, a mysterious look in her eyes. Layla opened her mouth, but then closed it again.

"Is there such a thing as magic?" Winger asked.

"Whether you believe in it or not, It's real to me," Aurora said. Cutter headed up to the helm to tell Chris where they wanted to go next.

"I think this will be the last stop we make before we head home," said Serenity. The Rescue Riders all suddenly looked sad.

"Where do you live exactly when you're not on this ship?" Aggro asked.

"On a remote island called Mt. Vulcan," said Tenor. "It sits off the cost of our main homeland, that's completely cut off from the human world."

"Can't you stay a bit longer?" Burple asked loudly. "It's been so much fun on this ship."

"Yeah, you're the only other people we've met that can talk to dragons," said Layla. Serenity chuckled.

"It's been fun for us too," she said. "And we're grateful to you for helping us off the rocks. But we have our own home to return to. However, you guys can always come with us and live on our island." She smiled. "But I'll understand if you want to return to your own Roost."

"We're the Rescue Riders," Winger said. "It's our job to help the people of Huttsgalore when they get in trouble."

"You don't have to decide anything yet," said Aurora. "We still have a while before we head back to your island. You have plenty of time to think it over." The wind picked up, filling the sails. The Dracorex sped through the waves.